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The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has now entered a new historic juncture. Three roads now intersect; optimists hope it will lead from the current battleground to a new and different landscape; the pessimists feel it will be more of the same.

The Israeli Cabinet has discussed the new situation in light of Yasser Arafat being flown to Paris for urgent medical treatment. At the weekly cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Sharon spoke about the possibility of resuming the Roadmap peace process, if a new Palestinian leadership takes over. On the other hand, the Prime Minister was adamant that Arafat would not be buried in Jerusalem as long as Sharon is in office. Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz and Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom also weighed in on how Israel should deal with a new Palestinian leadership, if Arafat drops out.

Could the Israeli-Palestinian conflict be on a new threshold? Hopefully turning from terrorism and bloodshed to negotiation and peace? Or might the Palestinians be headed for a bloody power struggle with the extremists gaining the upper hand? This is the question Israelis are now asking if and when a new Palestinian leadership succeeds the reign of Yasser Arafat. In what is viewed as a conciliatory step, Palestinian Prime Minister Abu Ala has telephoned Ariel Sharon to apprise him of the situation. The Israeli Prime Minister offered all possible medical aid.

General Giora Eiland, the head of Israel's National Security Council, Giora Eiland has briefed the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on the details of the withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and 4 Samarian settlments by the end of next year. Eiland disclosed that negotiations for Egypt to take control of the Philadelfee Axis are dragging on so the IDF will have to remain there to prevent Palestinian arms smuggling into the Gaza Strip. In another development, Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin has launched a blistering attack on Sharon's evacuation plan charging that it will endanger Israel's security.

Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz calls the Sinai bombings, ‘mega-terror’ - they were aimed at murdering as many Israelis as possible. Mofaz was speaking at an urgent session of the Israeli cabinet after huge bombs ripped through the Taba Hilton hotel and a tourist resort packed with Israeli tourists on the Simchat Torah holiday. IDF Chief Of Staff Moshe Ya’alon said that after explosives were used against Egyptian hotels on Egyptian soil, maybe Egypt would finally crack down on Palestinian arms smuggling through Sinai to the Gaza Strip. IDF intelligence chief, General Aharon Zeevi-Farkash told the cabinet there is a high probability that al-Qaeda carried out the bombings. MK Yuval Steinitz of the Likud, the chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, also says the Mossad has foiled some previous al Qaeda attacks on Israeli and Jewish targets. Dr Steinitz told David Essing there are at least two reasons why al Qaeda was probably responsible for the Sinai bombings:

At Jerusalem’s Mount Herzl military cemetery, the annual memorial service was held for the 2,689 IDF soldiers who fell in the Yom-Kippur War of October 1973. However, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon canceled his participation because of the extremely tight security precautions after threats, apparently from opponents to his withdrawal plans. As a rule, Israel never comments on the killing of terrorists abroad, however both Sharon and Deputy Premier Ehud Olmert were talking about the need to hit the terrorists, when a leading Palestinian terrorist was assassinated in Damascus.